Bhai Mati Das

Bhai Mati Das was the Diwan of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and one of the Sikhs who gave their lives at Delhi in November 1675. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was the son of Bhai Hira Mal, also called Hiranand, a Chhibbar Brahman of Kariala, now in Pakistan. His grandfather, Bhai Parga, had embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji and had fought in battles with the Mughal forces, so Mati Das grew up in a Sikh family. His uncle Dargah Mall served Guru Har Rai Ji and Guru Har Krishan Ji as Diwan, and Mati Das and his younger brother Sati Das assisted Dargah Mall in Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's time. Mati Das was himself appointed Diwan alongside his uncle.

Key moments

• 1665 to 1670: he travels with Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji in the east. He is seized with the Guru at Dhamtan in 1665 and released from Delhi through the intervention of Kanwar Ram Singh of Amber.
• 1675: he leaves Anandpur with the Guru for Delhi. He is arrested with him under imperial orders and taken to Delhi.
• At Delhi he refuses to give up his faith and is tortured to death, sawn in two from the head downward. The Encyclopaedia dates this to 11 November 1675, the day it also gives for the Guru's own execution. The Tribune describes the three companions, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Dayala and Bhai Sati Das, as put to death a day before the Guru, so the sources differ by a day.
• Wikipedia's account, drawn from Sikh histories, says that at his request he faced the Guru as he was sawn, and that he recited Japji Sahib. The Tribune says Bhai Dayala was boiled alive. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Bhai Sati Das says he was wrapped in cotton wool, set on fire and roasted alive on 11 November 1675.

Why it is remembered: the Tribune's report of the 350th anniversary observance, at Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in November 2025, says Matidas Chowk, just outside the gurdwara, marks the spot where the executions took place. His name is joined to the Guru's martyrdom at Chandni Chowk each year, and to the memory of the companions who would not leave him.